Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a hormonal condition that disrupts ovulation and the menstrual cycle. It’s the most common female hormonal condition, affecting roughly one in 12 Australian women. Women…

Gwyneth Paltrow stirred up an interesting discussion with her latest recommendation for the spa fan: the Mugworth V-Steam. As she put it: “You sit on what is essentially a mini-throne, and a combination…

The tsunami devastated the beaches of Aceh in Indonesia, but children now play on them once more.
EPA/Hotli SimanjuntakDecember 23 2014

How does the death of a child affect parents' subsequent fertility? On a population scale this has been difficult to answer, but it has fundamental implications for understanding population dynamics across…

The shift towards late motherhood – commonly defined as motherhood after 35 – is often presented as a story of progress and technological liberation from the biological clock. The narrative goes something…

Observers may be quick to declare social trends “good” or “bad” for families, but such conclusions are rarely justified. What’s good for one family – or group of families – may be bad for another. And…

I’ll have a clean cage with a side of fertility issues.
Mouse image via www.shutterstock.comNovember 10 2014

Mice possess a notable talent: they are excellent at making more mice. Their ability to reproduce at a breakneck pace is one reason they are often used as experimental research subjects. Thus, when Dr…

By 2100 there could be 11 billion people on Earth, but there’s no quick way to slow growth.
James Cridland/FlickrNovember 6 2014

The rise in population since 1900 has been so rapid that up to 14% of all humans that have ever lived are still alive today, according to recent research. Other research shows that slowing population growth…

Germany and the rest of Europe are celebrating the 25th anniversary of the collapse of the Berlin Wall and the associated communist regimes in Eastern Europe. This event had colossal repercussions in the…

For couples trying to conceive, the chance of this happening within a year depends on their age. The monthly chance of pregnancy for couples where the woman is 35 years or younger is about 20% and 80-90…

Everyone’s favourite property expert and house hunter extraordinaire, Kirstie Allsopp, raised some eyebrows when she recently suggested that women’s fertility “falls off a cliff” when they hit 35. Her…

A new study has claimed that keeping mobile phones in trouser pockets can damage a man’s sperm count, affecting his chances of becoming a father. While the possibility that mobile phone radiation could…

Parents in the UK look set to become the first in the world to use a radical IVF technique that some critics have condemned as eugenic engineering. If approved by parliament, so called “three person IVF…

It all comes down to egg supply.
Image from shutterstock.comJanuary 23 2014

We’ve known for over 50 years that reproductive ageing results in a gradual loss of fertility until about age 37, when the rate of decline accelerates dramatically. The loss of fertility is accompanied…

Women’s ability to conceive and give birth to healthy babies starts to decline before the age of 30.
Image from shutterstock.comJanuary 20 2014

It’s said that “40 is the new 30” and “50 is the new 40”. But, when it comes to female fertility, 40 is still 40, and the likelihood of successful pregnancy and childbirth has notably decreased from age…

Reflecting on her imminent departure as head of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the body that regulates IVF and fertility services, Lisa Jardine said in an interview last week that “nobody…

It’s Nobel season and who could forget IVF pioneer Sir Robert Edwards who won the accolade for medicine in 2010? More than ever before, reproductive medicine is throwing up new treatments and answers to…

More than 50 years after Australian women first had access to the oral contraceptive pill, research into new contraceptives has stalled and women are stuck with new versions of old products to manage their…